Monochromatic Singapore Skyline

August 8th, 2013

Parka from Singapore, blogger at Parkablogs.com, recently posted the complete contents of his Zeta Series Sketchbook. It’s a fascinating journal because it is entirely monochromatic. Parka writes about this spread: “That’s the financial district just by the side of Singapore River. The river side used to be filled with shops but many have made way for the tall bank office buildings. On the river are bumboats that tourists can ride on and be introduced to the history around the area. I was trying out Shinhan markers that my friend lent to me. Usually I use Copic markers. Both brands work well with the paper on the Zeta sketchbook. There’s minimal bleeding to the next page unless it’s a very wet marker. Using just gray markers is good practice in the application of tonal values. I used three grays for this sketch. I’ve friends who thought the sketches were printed and commented on the print-quality look of the ink and markers.” You can see Parka’s complete monochromatic sketchbook on his blog here: http://www.parkablogs.com/picture/parkas-sketchbook-volume-4

Note: A bumboat is a small boat used to ferry supplies to ships moored away from the shore. Originally referring to a scavenger’s boat, the name comes from the combination of the Dutch word for a canoe—”boomschuit” (“boom” meaning “tree”), and “boat”. In Singapore the term “bumboat” is applied to small water taxis and boats that take tourists on short tours.